Sunday, April 25, 2010

Jordan Romero & an update from Bill..finally!!!!

Ok so I thought this was interesting. I got an email from Team Jordan this morning, it seems Bill met them at ABC. The funny thing though, when I asked Bill if he had met Jordan Romero the other night he said "Who the hell is Jordan Romero?". I told him, glad I did, because that team has much better access to internet. Well Bill met them, and it was nice of them to tell me he is doing well. Team Jordan said they sent pictures, instead they sent Bill's latest blog which is more interesting. Here it is, posted as I got it.

ADVANCED BASE CAMP So I had made it!!!!!!!!! As I stand here staring at the North Col and the summit of Everest the realization of being here hit a whole new level. So did the realization that this is one of the worst places to try and live 20,500 feet. Non pressurized aircraft aren’t allowed to fly this high and we are living here. Everyone I talked to hates ABC and I was so looking forward to being here. Little did I know. I can’t tell you what I had for the first nights dinner or any dinner after that. Every meal starts with soup and ends with mangos. My brain kept telling my stomach it was hungry but after the first two bites I just didn’t want to eat anything. Now you know this clearly isn’t my type of place. For the first 5 days it snowed along with high winds. My blog is short here because my mind isn’t functioning the same. We also have had some mishaps. Both of our generators have broken so we don’t have any power. Apparently we have the wrong Sim card for our phone so we can’t make any calls or go on the internet. We have made several friends here at camp so we have been able to broker some power and phone time. I say broker because at 20,500 feet nothing comes cheap. Like $6 a minute kind of stuff. What is nice is that I am not sick or have a cough. Everyone here is sick with some kind of sinus infection. At night you can always tell the new crews coming in because there is usually someone who is throwing up due to the altitude. There is an entire chorus of coughs around me all night long. As for the temperature, it hovers around zero to 5 degrees till the sun comes up. The winds bring it well below zero. We have had on and off winds in the 20-50mph range each day. Yes it sucks here but you are here for one purpose only and that is to acclimatize so you can get to higher levels. So I write to you as I am freezing my ass off, missing everyone from home especially my wife and wondering why the hell I am here. I told you it isn’t any fun on the way up. So where are we now on our schedule. We have been here for 5 crappy days and will be leaving to climb the North Col tomorrow. It will be nice to get off of my arse and do something although I have no energy to do anything. I forgot to mention the headaches that come and go every day. Can someone ship me a gun please. I have told you all that I believe climbing is 80% mental and 20% physical. Well I am being taught first hand the mental side of Everest is brutal. I already hate being here and we haven’t even stepped on the damn mountain. Even worse, what stands in front of me is 8,500 vertical feet of snow, rock and ice. I’ll write something a little more pleasant next time. More later.

Hang in there Billy! Just imagine what it must be like to have such an amazing opportunity in front of you that so few have done. Your health is most important and it seems you are holding your own there. Now, just try to get a little zen and you will get to that next level. Stay healthy and safe!Rob

Bill - I am amazed every day at what you are doing. By the time you get back I will have you on my Speakers Bureau as a Professional Speaker talking about climbing Everest and your blog posts will have been edited and layed out into a book. How about "The Not So Friendship Bridge" as a title? Stay Safe - we are all very proud of you.

Here is a link to a video of the Romero kid on the mountain. What I liked was being able to see what Bill must look like in a huge parka. They have 4,400 pounds of gear; how much does bill and team have?

Go Sharks! They actually made it out of the first round! Fishing was great at Fall River this past weekend and there were about a zillion specklebelly geese flying around up there. Kate's in heat and I will call Sue to arrange a date for her and Max to "hook up." As Patton once said "suck it up and get moving."OUT